We need these little reminders..

...in order to stay on track.

As you know from previous posts - this writing life is not always rewarding or glamourous. Heck, most times it's downright hard!

As you also know, I am forever throwing in the towel and looking for a "real" job -- whatever that is.

I've always known that I was put here to be a writer -- but sometimes I think that maybe I made that memory up. I do have some mentally unhinged folk in my family - so you know maybe delusion is in the bloodline. However, today that fear was put to rest when I visited my website and found a note from one my high school teachers. I don't remember her, because it's been like twenty-eight years and too many bottles of wine since I graduated -- but she remembers me. She remembers me very, very well:

Bernice:

The year you were a freshman at SCA I didn't teach English. The next year, when you would have been my student, I moved to Gary, Indiana. I remember you from a one-week mini-course in creative writing, however--and you produced some stunning things then. I'm a fan and have used The Warmest December with a book club. Just finished Glorious. Magnificent! Sister Donna Marie speaks of you often. Count me as a big fan of yours.

Sister Pamela Smith
Bluffton, South Carolina

Bernice L. McFadden

Hey, it's Thursday!

Our sister in the word, the talented LA Banks, still needs your help and prayers. So if you're in NYC tonight (or know someone who is) please come to The Hue-MAN L.A. Banks Experience a Benefit for Leslie Esdaile who has been hospitalized w/ late stage cancer and bills are mounting. This promises to be a great event and its for a great, friend, writer and free spirit. Proceeds from sales of her latest books will go to her fund - www.leslieesdailefund.inf

Thursday July 28th, 2011
Hue-Man Book Store & Cafe
2319 Frederick Douglass Boulevard (bet. 124th & 125th Streets)
New York, New York
6PM - 8PM


I'm having a fire sale! Yep...

From now until September 26th, my Ebook: Keeper of Keys will be available on Amazon.com for just .99 cents. So spread the word!

At long last, Martha Southgate has a new book coming out in September!

Josie Henderson loves the water and is fulfilled by her position as the only senior-level black scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. In building this impressive life for herself, she has tried to shed the one thing she cannot: her family back in landlocked Cleveland. Her adored brother, Tick, was her childhood ally as they watched their drinking father push away all the love that his wife and children were trying to give him. Now Tick himself has been coming apart and demands to be heard.

Weaving four voices into a beautiful tapestry, Southgate charts the lives of the Hendersons from the parents’ first charmed meeting to Josie’s realization that the ways of the human heart are more complex than anything seen under a microscope.


PLEASE KEEP WRITERS WRITING!!! PRE-ORDER THE BOOK FROM YOUR FAVORITE BOOKSTORE, DEMAND THAT YOUR LIBRARY CARRIES AS MANY COPIES AS POSSIBLE -- SPREAD THE WORD!!!

Bernice L. McFadden

Gathering of Waters (Excerpt)

"Fifty years later and Bryant’s Grocery store was still standing, vacant and ghostly - it had survived high winds and treacherous storms, clinging stubbornly to a life that no longer wanted it. It slouched there, plastered with advertisements and riddled with racial epithets, bible verses and swastikas. A reminder of the before and the after. It remains; looming, loudly insisting upon itself."

Place your order early at your local independent bookstore

or Pre-Order your copy now at Amazon.com

Bernice L. McFadden

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Today, is my fathers birthday. If he was still alive he would have turned 69 years old today. He's been gone for six years now, and I still miss him very, very much. We didn't always have the best of relationships - but I realize that as flawed as he was (who isn't) he was probably one of the best influences in my life. Without him, I know I would have grown into a very different woman.

So because I'm feeling all weepy and grief-stricken - rather than try and write something of my own, I am going to link to a post my sister wrote in his honor on Father's Day 2008. Even if I tried, I couldn't say it any better....


The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, saw fit to call my daddy home three years ago. I took the loss very hard. I was surprised by my level of grief because we didn't have a traditional father / daughter relationship. I probably gave my father the most trouble growing up and it started from toddler hood when I used to refer to him as Robert instead of Daddy like the rest of my siblings. Growing up we would get beatings, yes our parents disciplined us for real, and I would give my father a run for his money..LOL He would be out of breath and exhausted from chasing me around the house but I refused to go down without a fight. I figured if I ran him around a bit he wouldn’t have the energy to hit me. Sometimes my plan back fired because he would be so upset with me for making him run that I would get a few extra licks. My twin brother would take his punishment without trouble just to get it over with. Then as a pre-teen I went through the neck and eye rolling stage where I found myself on the receiving end of many back hands…most times I deserved it. I just didn’t understand him and the demons he was struggling with so we constantly bumped heads. Finally there was the time when I came home pregnant and he promptly told me to get an abortion. For a long while after that we didn’t speak. I think he was more disappointed than angry but then again he didn't really do too much talking to anyone but himself. My daddy was one of those guys you see walking down the street, having a conversation (complete with hand gestures) with himself. He didn't look crazy, I think the average passersby understood he was simply thinking out loud, but not too loud if you know what I mean. He often had a smirk on his face and grumbled when he spoke. As a child he intimidated my friends, needless to say I never had a slumber party. But there was also the flip side to Robert aka Mac. Often times during hot summer days my father would bring candy to all the kids playing outside. Then as a grandfather he always kept pretzel sticks and sweet treats in the house for his grand children. -- CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST

Bernice L. McFadden

Mello Monday Links...

Kola Boof's new book: The Sexy Part of the Bible recently received a glowing review from Madison Smartt Bell for The Boston Globe; in which he called the work: "The most jubilant celebration of black African beauty so far seen in the English language." Read the entire review here.

Have you joined A Chapter A Month yet? Bo! Well you're missing out on some great stories written by some of the industries most enthralling writers, such as: Margaret Johnson Hodge, Carleen Brice, Lolita Files, Victoria Christopher Murray, Tinesha Davis and loads of others!

Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones was chosen by The Today Show as the #1 book for summer. Get your copy before summer is flits away!

Leslie Esdaile aka L.A. Banks is still not out of the woods. Your continued show of support is still required and greatly appreciated!

I found a new designer who I am swooning over! Martine's Dream creates dream come true clothing for me, you and anyone else who appreciates loose fitting, light weight, uniquely patterned dresses and tops!

Yesterday, I had the honor of being interviewed by Shelton Walden on WBAI. We spoke about the release of my upcoming title: Gathering of Waters, Emmett Till, the publishing industry and my trip to Egypt. You can listen to the interview here. And of course if you feel so inclined, please pre-order a copy of the book!

That's me in a Martine's Dream top...

Bernice L. McFadden

Eat, Sleep, Write: El Gouna, Egypt -- The End.

I am home.
I am broke, but rich in blessings.
I wrote, slept, swam and dreamed.

I braved a sandstorm and saw a lunar eclipse.
I am sun-smothered, round, smooth, quiet in my mind and spirit.
I did cast my eyes over The Nile River, placed my hands on temple stone, drank hibiscus tea with Arab Muslims and Christians alike. I laughed with them, and held their hands, and they held mine.

I am grateful, tired, restless and eager for the next adventure.

Bernice L. McFadden